HealthBeat

Paige Nulty

• Dr. James Diaz, a professor at the LSU Health Sciences Center, conducted a study that finds new modes of transmission and behaviors associated with parasitic lung infection. In the study, which appears in the current issue of Clinical Microbiology Reviews, Diaz found the Paragonimus parasite can live in freshwater Asian crabs and raw or undercooked local crawfish. The parasitic infection can produce tuberculosis mimicking symptoms of fever, recurrent or bloody cough, night sweats, pleurisy, pneumonia, seizures and vision loss. U.S. cases of Paragonimus were rare prior to 1984; now Asian crabs are eaten raw in sushi bars or alcohol-pickled for “drunken crabs” in martinis, and crawfish can be undercooked at boils. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Food and Drug Administration recommend cooking crawfish to an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit before eating.

• David Liff is the newest cardiologist Ochsner Medical Center – Kenner. Liff earned his medical degree from Ohio State University School of Medicine. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Cardiology at Emory University Hospital System in Atlanta, Ga. and a fellowship in Interventional Cardiology at North Shore University-Long Island Health System in New York. He specializes in Interventional Cardiology, having received COCAT Level 2 training in Nuclear Cardiology and Transesophageal Exhocardiography. Liff is ABIM Certified in Cardiology and has participated in various conferences and research studies.

• The Tulane University School of Medicine and New Orleans Mission are partnering to create a student-run clinic for the homeless beginning in the 2013-’14 academic year. The clinic will be open two days a week upstairs at the New Orleans Mission at 1130 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. Previously, Tulane medical students have administered tuberculosis tests at the Brantley Center and Ozanam Inn homeless shelters. Students Melissa Keller, Yea Ping Lin, Sunnie Wong and Max Shapiro will serve in the clinic this year.